DISCLAIMER: Any person, place, thing, or idea in this story you are familiar with from Harry Potter is not mine. I give all credit to J. K. Rowling.

Ok I'm changing the chapter titles…"The _" is just too boring. So now, you have to read the chapter to find out what it has to do with the story. :)

Chapter 3 - Something's Missing

"Come on now, move it people. Are you a Prefect? Do you know the password? I didn't think so, now do you want to get in or not?" A very tall boy with short, cropped brown hair pushed in front of everyone waiting out side the portrait.

The woman in the picture spoke, "Prefect? Diatriba made you a Prefect?"

"Why yes, of course. Why wouldn't she? Dungbomb! Now let us in!"

"Eh, pushy today, are we, Lucas? Back up a bit, kiddies, make room for Mr. Corner…" Then, the portrait swung back to reveal a dimly lit staircase. We climbed up and entered the very warm and comfy atmosphere of the Gryffindor common room. Several very squashed armchairs were littered around a roaring fireplace, along with some side tables, with a large, round sectional sofa in the center of the room. A huge notice board sat on the wall to the left of the fire, and students were already rushing up to see what was new.

One of the girl Prefects took the female first-years up to their dormitories. As we walked up the stairs, she told us about a rumor that no boys were allowed in the girls dorm. She said she didn't know if it was true or not, but she didn't want to find out what would happen. When we reached the top, there were a series of doors, each marked with a golden name plate labeled with each of the seven years on them. She took us to the one with "First-years" written on it.

"When you come back next year, it will be in the same place, the nameplates will just get switched around, so you sleep in the same bed each year. That would just be disgusting if you didn't." She opened the door and stopped dead in her tracks. "Oh, my."

"What is it?" Violet asked, and she moved in front of the Prefect, "What's wrong?"

"Well, your trunks are supposed to be here. I don't know what went wrong. Well, you might as well pick a bed, I need to go speak with Professor Tibit," she answered as she walked out of the room. "Oh, and by the way, my name is Belinda Wright. If you need any help with anything during the year, don't be afraid to ask me," she smiled "Now, to get your trunks. I suspect you have some very necessary items in there…"

We all looked around. Violet, being probably the most audacious one in the room, ran to a bed by a window and thumped down onto it.

"I call this one!" she screamed, "Come on Rosie, get the one next to me!" The beds did look inviting, but I didn't want to make a bad impression on the other girls, so I walked to the bed on the opposite side of he window and sat down. I looked at the other girls, who were cowering in the doorway, and smiled.

"The beds are really comfy. Try them!" I encouraged. Slowly, they stepped into the room and chose a bed. The pretty black girl from the Sorting Ceremony chose first, one bed away from Violet. A skinny girl with long, flowing brown hair and brilliant blue eyes stepped up to the bed between Violet's and the other girl's and sat down at the edge, testing it's spring-back.

"You're right!" she said, "They're even better than at home. My mother would never let me have a bed this great."

Finally, the last girl, a curly-haired blonde, shuffled over the last bed and gently sat on it.

Minutes of silence and bed-testing went on when at last, Violet spoke.

"Well if we're going to sleep in the same room, eat together, and have classes together for seven years in a row, I think we ought to know each other's names at least," she said, her hands on her hips. "My name is Violet Viribus," she articulated, "but you can call me Vi." Then, she looked at me, waiting for me to introduce myself.

"Er…my name is Rose Weasley and…er…Violet calls me Rosie, but you can call me whatever you like."

The girl next to Vi giggled. "What about 'Pocketful of Rosie Posies'?" I could tell this girl would be lots of fun.

"Now that's a bit much," I giggled back.

"Well, I'm Clarice McLaggen. My friends call me loads of names like Clara, Clarie, Claire, Clare-Laggen. Pretty much anything is fine with me."

The girl next to her spoke this time, "Clarice…that's a beautiful name!" Clarice thanked her and blushed lightly.

"My name's Sasha," she continued, "Sasha Thomas. I don't really have a nickname but feel free to make one up for me if you want to." Then, we all looked at the last girl, who turned out very shy.

She went pale and stuttered as she talked. "I…er…" she began, "I'm…I'm er…Scarlet…Ophrys…and…erm…it's just…er…Scarlet…" We sat there for a few moments, then I got a brilliant idea.

"Hey!" I exclaimed suddenly, scaring Sasha, "Let's play a game. You know, like those ice-breakers they do in muggle schools to get to know each other?" I looked around. Violet nodded, but Clarice, Sasha, and even Scarlet looked at me like I had three heads. "Well I know this one version where you go around in a circle answering the same question. Like say my favorite animal is a cat. I would say, 'My favorite animal is a cat.' Then, I would turn to Vi and she would answer, then Clarice and so on, but you have to answer a different question each round. Get it?"

"That sounds like fun," said Sasha.

"Great idea Rosie!" cheered Violet

"Perfect. I'll start. Erm…my favorite color used to be the color 'Rose' from my crayon box, because it was my name, but as of about a year or two ago, it's a light golden brown. I saw it in a painting and I just loved the way it glowed all by itself…" and I instantly thought of Scorpius and the way his eyes glittered earlier today on the train. A soft, warm feeling spread through my body. Suddenly, I came back into reality (just in time) to find out that Scarlet's favorite color was her favorite color because she liked the way it was spelled. Then, she proceeded to spell "chartreuse".

"Er, cool. Erm…I have a little brother named Hugo," I said.

"And I'm an only child, but Rosie's like my sister," said Violet, winking at me.

"I have a identical twin brother named Charlie," said Clarice.

"Really? Can you like feel what he's feeling and finish each others sentences and everything?" Violet interrupted.

"Sometimes…hmm…I wonder if Charlie has his luggage. It might not be just us who's stuff got lost. Maybe it was all the all the Gryffindors, or all the first-years."

"Oh, I should go check on Albus," I said to myself. A little louder, I excused myself and left the room.

Half-way down the steps, there was a loud click and the stairs disappeared below me. It was replaced by a slide and several high pitched screams. Grunts could be hard below be as I slid, and finally, at the bottom, I slipped sideways onto a pile of people with a thump.

Suddenly, we all started to giggle, and our giggles turned into laughs, and the pile of people turned into a huge laughing fit. Slowly, we all got up. In the middle of the pile was the Prefect girl that went to get our trunks. She was still giggling a little.

"Hee hee heh…Out of all the things in the world, I never - EVER - expected that. I thought like a dragon would pop out of the wall or something! Oh, hello. Yes, Professor Tibit found your trunks. She should be here with them soon. Apparently the whole first-year's luggage went missing!" She continued to giggle as she went up the newly appeared stairs.

"Who tried to get up?" said a blonde third-year.

A rustled-looking Albus raised his hand shyly. "M-m-me. I'm-I'm sorry," he stuttered. I couldn't help but laugh. "I wanted to talk to you, Rose," he told me. Then, he took me to the round sofa and sat down. I seated myself next to him and asked why he wanted to get up the girls dorm. "I told you," he complained, "I wanted to talk to you. When our Prefect took us up to our room, he said our trunks were missing."

"Me too. My Prefect said the same thing. She went to go tell Professor Tibit and she was actually in that pile of students."

"Oh. Well, that was one of the things that I wanted to say, and another was to ask you if you had your trunk, but obviously not. So, er, the third thing I wanted to say was - " He was cut off by a loud thump from near the portrait. The room fell silent and every head in the common room turned to face Professor Tibit, who was standing amid twenty or so large school trunks.

"Alrighty-then. Any first years who are in the room now may take up their trunks, if some of the older students wouldn't mind helping them carry it? Thank you." And she left.

I walked to the pile with Al and picked out our trunks. I thought of how Scorpius had helped me take it onto the train today, and the way he smiled at me. I shook the image out of my head. Why was I doing this? I barely even knew him…

"It's because of what he said," answered a little voice in my head.

I sighed and attempted to lift my trunk. A sandy-haired boy and a much older version of him came up us. The younger boy smiled at Albus.

"Hello. This is my older brother, Connor. He can help you move your trunk if you want," he offered.

"Sure. Can he take Rose's too?" I felt myself go red as they both turned to me. The younger boy blushed too and our eyes locked. I blushed even more, if that was even possible.

"Of course. It's just a simple levitation charm. You could probably do it too," said Connor. He drew his wand and waved it in the air, saying "Locomotor trunk", sending Albus' into the air and toward the stairs to the boys dormitory.

"I can teach you if you like. Underage magic isn't illegal here." I nodded to him and drew my own wand. It felt like just yesterday that Mum had brought me to Diagon Alley for my school supplies.

~.*.~ .*. ~.*.~FLASHBACK~.*.~.*.~.*.~

"Wake up sweetheart."

Mum's voice rang through my bedroom on the second floor.

"Where's the fire?" I mumbled, still half asleep. I rolled over in bed and covered my head with the sheets to shield my eyes from the sun, blazing through the new breach in the curtains.

"Diagon Alley. That's where."

I shot up. "Diagon Alley? Really? Today? Oh, thanks. Mum!"

"You're welcome." She smiled at my happiness, but not for long. "Now get up or I'll be forced to bring Hugo too."

I hopped out of bed and landed hard on the floor beneath me, sending an echoing boom throughout the house.

"SHH!" warned Mum, "Hugh's still sleeping and so is your father, so if you want to shop in piece we'll have to sneak out. I've made you breakfast already and it's waiting on the counter in the kitchen. Come down when you're dressed." She left the room and shut the door quietly behind her.

I was very happy. Not only due to the fact that Mum and I were going to be shopping alone for once, but also in Diagon Alley! I'd waited practically all my life for this.

Diagon alley not only meant Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour (my favorite flavor was "Chocolate Frog"), but it also meant my very own, brand-new, one-of-a-kind wand! Just for me! I could hardly wait.

I quickly got dressed and went down into the kitchen. I scarfed down breakfast and rushed to put my shoes on. We traveled to the Leaky Cauldron by Floo Powder and made our way to the alleyway behind it. Mum tapped a block on the wall and muttered something and the wall started to move. We made our way to Ollivander's shop, the wall behind us mending itself.

"Here we are. Ollivander's wand shop."

We stepped inside what you would think was a library, but instead of books on the shelves, there laid hundreds of small rectangular boxes, each containing it's own one-of-a-kind wand.

A very old man stood behind a counter and he smiled at us when we entered. "Hello, there," he greeted us cheerily. He smiled wide and his whole face crinkled up in a very strange way. "Is this your first wand young lady?" he asked me. I nodded. "Excellent. Please follow me." he left the counter and went down a row of wands. A magical tape measure flew over to us as we followed him and started to measure every length of my body. It only took about a minute, but it was still very strange. Ollivander stopped around the middle of the isle and pulled a box down from the shelf.

He handed me the wand. "Walnut. Eleven and a half inches. Dragon Heartstring core. Go ahead and a give it a flick." I took it, and it felt hard and unfriendly in my hands. I shook it and red sparks shot out of it with so much force, it threw me onto the ground.

"Hmm. No. You don't seem like a dragon heartstring kind of witch. Maybe a softer wood, and a unicorn hair core might help too..." He handed me a different one. "This is oak, 9 inches, unicorn hair core. Try it. Don't worry. This one's a bit safer." I gave it a slight wiggle in the air and winced. But nothing happened. I shook it again, but nothing happened. Finally, I waved my arm in the air as hard as I could, but all that came out were some sad looking streamers.

By the end of the day, It felt like I had tried every single wand in the shop (and I probably had): ash, oak, holly, hawthorn, elm, chestnut, mahogany, willow, yew, vine wood maple, cherry, birch, cedar, and teak; unicorn hair, dragon heartstring, flower essence, and phoenix feather; nine inches, ten inches, eleven and three quarter inches - and every other type of wand imaginable.

Exhausted, Ollivander went into the back to search. Then, he came back out holding a few very old, battered, and dusty boxes. He handed me one. "I don't know what this one is. It's very old - even older than me! By the looks of it, I'd say it's made out of Bolivian Rosewood. I'm not sure about the core though. Why don't you try it?" Rosewood? I smiled. I took the wand out of the box and gripped it tightly. It fit nice in my hand, like it was custom made. It felt slightly warm, and when I shook it, a shower of rainbow colored sparks flew out and Ollivander began shouting and clapping.

"Ho ho! Finally! Great job! Now, this one will be tricky to price since we don't know the core. Let's estimate it around 9 Galleons then. Fair enough?" Mum paid for my wand and thanked him. I left the store feeling about as happy as I ever would be, my new wand in hand.

~.*.~ .*. ~.*.~END FLASHBACK~.*.~.*.~.*.~

"Right then," Connor said, "just hold it out like this," - I copied him - "Great. Now move it like this - sort of a quick flick - and say Locomotor trunk!" The younger boy's trunk floated up into the air and he set it back down again. "See?" Now you try."

I moved my wand the way Connor had showed me. "Locomotor trunk!" I said. Nothing happened. I tried again, focusing on my hand movements. "Locomotor trunk!" I said again. Still nothing happened. Slightly disgruntled, I repeated myself, a little louder though. "LOCOMOTOR TRUNK!" I nearly shouted. Then, it happened. My trunk quivered and lifted itself slowly from the ground inch by inch.

Albus, his friend, and Connor smiled at me. Connor encouraged me, "That's it! Now concentrate. Steady…steady…that's it." I focused harder and lifted my trunk up to my waist. I smiled back, blushing and feeling slightly nervous at Connors little brother. His smile fit his face nicely, and his blue eyes were just beautiful. He blushed too, and I almost lost focus on my trunk, making it droop a few inches. I regained full concentration and guided my trunk up the steps to the girls dormitory.

I heard Connor's brother excited request to try it too. "Can you teach me too? The boys upstairs will be impressed when they see it."

"Sure thing, Andrew. Just follow me." So his name was Andrew? He looked like an Andrew…a very cute Andrew. I smiled to myself. It was plain to see he felt the same way about me, if only a little bit. I was lost in my thoughts so much, that I didn't realize I had walked into my dorm already. Violet was talking.

"…we were little, and I kind of think he likes me back - but don't tell Rosie. I don't think she'd approve." Someone gasped. All the girls looked at me. They were all seated on Clarice's bed, cross-legged. I snapped out of my daze and looked at them confusingly.

"Oh. Hello Rose," said Sasha shakily.

"Hey guys. What's up?" My trunk dropped to the floor with a loud thump. "Oh yeah. Our trunks are here. They're just downstairs." With a soft murmuring, they left the room suspiciously.

"What's up with them?" I asked myself. I let go of the subject and turned it to my trunk. I opened it and sorted me belongings. I placed my new books on top and filed my muggle clothes away in a drawer next to my bed.

When Sasha, Violet, Clarice, and Scarlet came back upstairs with their trunks, they unloaded them, just like I had. After that, we talked and talked until it was very late at night.

"I like Professor Tibit. She seems really nice. I'm glad she's the Head of Gryffindor." Sasha said.

Clarice agreed. "Me too." She yawned and looked at the clock. "Oh, guys. We'd better get to sleep. We have classes tomorrow!"

"Yeah. Good idea." I pretended to yawn. I had things I needed to do.

After the rest of the girls had gone to bed, I took out the strange looking cloak from my bag. It still felt like nothing. I covered my head with my sheets and took out my wand as well. "Lumos." My wand tip lit with a bright blue light. I draped the cloak over my spare hand and - I gasped. It was gone! I took my hand out from under the cloak. It was back again. Puzzled, I placed it over my legs. They disappeared too. This cloak was starting to freak me out. I decided to sleep on it and leave it until the morning. Maybe I would show it to Vi and Al and ask them what they thought about it. "Nox," I muttered sleepily, extinguishing my wand light, and slowly drifting into a peaceful sleep.


I hope you liked it! And now to get started on Chapter 4…but first…

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